As city officials continue negotiations with Essence Festival of Culture organizers on the fate of the 2027 festival, Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser on Wednesday became the latest official to call upon festival organizers to shine more light on their finances.
Essence has asked for $10-$12 million more in state and city funding for the event, but has not given a full public accounting of its past spending, Nungesser said.
“We’ve got enough money in this state to fix everything if we quit giving it away and we spend the money where it gets the most bang for its buck and return on investment,” said Nungesser, who leads the state’s tourism office…